Rodgers: No compromise on style

Brendan Rodgers has pledged there will be no compromise on Liverpool’s st
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yle of play next season.

Rodgers led the Merseyside club to within touching distance of their first top-flight title in 24 years last term, as they finished just two points behind champions Manchester City.

A combination of scintillating attacking play, which resulted in Liverpool plundering 101 goals, and fragile defending – they also conceded 50 times, 13 more than City – led to Rodgers’ side garnering a reputation as the Premier League’s great entertainers.

Liverpool have faced criticism from some quarters over their apparent weaknesses at the back, with Rodgers also being accused of abandoning his possession-based principles in favour of a more counter-attacking style.

The Northern Irishman employed a number of different formations and tactical tweaks in the second half of last season, but he insists this merely offers proof of his squad’s flexibility as opposed to any change to his ideology.

“The style has evolved from the first day I came in, and it’s continuing,” Rodgers, who signed a new long-term contract at Anfield last month, told Liverpool’s official website.

“We can make passes – if we sit deep, we can play on the counter-attack; we can sit on a low block or we can press high.

“There’s a real flexibility now and it’s a huge credit to the players that we can now flip from formation to formation. The style doesn’t change, but the system does.

“What has been interesting is people talking about me moving away from some of the principles that I’ve always worked with – it couldn’t be further from the truth.

“What we have shown is that we are now better equipped – we can have a variety in our game.

“As time has gone on, we’ve added penetration – it’s much better. We’re much quicker with our passing, the speed of our game is better and obviously we’ve got quality at the top end of the field.

“Players are now flooding forward looking to score goals, as opposed to the idea of just keeping the ball – because that’s no good on its own.”